University of Makeni – Sustainable Enterprise
The relationship between humans and the planet - climate change, pollution and natural disasters
There are now very few people who completely disagree that the climatic conditions of this planet are altering.
By how much and where is more open to debate. The facts as presented by respected bodies suggest the
following:
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Temperature rises over many areas will be greater than the global average. The general predicted rise
is 4C by the 2080s. But temperatures could rise to 7C in southern Africa and 8C in northern Africa almost double the global average
Significant changes in rainfall could be experienced across the continent, with the area around the
Sahara and in southern Africa
Desertification is likely to increase around the Sahara, causing populations to move.
Rising temperatures, widespread water stress, increased frequency and severity of droughts and
floods, and rising sea levels will severely damage progress on development goals in Africa.
Cereal crop yields could fall between 10 to 30 percent by the 2050s compared to 1990 levels.
All of the above will have a significant impact on the continent of Africa and other developing
countries. It would seem that the majority of the pollutants have been generated by the ‘developed’
economies but it is the developing world who will be affected by these actions.
What might arise to affect future generations of Africans?
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Heat waves will bring increased injuries and death.
Vector- and water-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue fever and cholera might increase.
An additional 67 million people in Africa could be at risk of malaria epidemics by the 2080s.
Greenhouse gases must be curbed and help must be given to vulnerable Africans to adapt to the new
climate conditions. The cost of climate-proofing current investment plans will be between $10bn and
$40bn.
World population projected to rise to 9 billion, yet food production static
World Food Programme is now feeding 73 million people in 80 different countries
It is difficult to argue that temperatures are NOT rising. Let’s look at just a small range of the data available.
You will note that all the ‘numbers’ point to continued rises in temperatures of air, land and sea.
African countries will need to give serious consideration to HOW the above will affect their futures.
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Food production
Food security
Sources of water and their continuance
Water storage
Sources and distribution of energy
Infrastructure development its resistance to climatic change
Methods of building
Access to health care
Access to education
The use of information technology to secure some, or all of the above.
They will also have to consider:
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The use of raw materials
Access to marine resources
Access to water sources – whose water it is – think of the Nile, or Lake Victoria
Training
Civil Awareness
Capacity Building
 Others
Let’s look at some of the ‘numbers’ and their implications.
Both of the above suggest that certain major changes in the surface of the planet will take place and in your
lifetimes
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The reduction in Polar Ice Caps
An increase in sea levels
An increase in erratic rain fall
Difficulties associated with this – storage, transport, distribution, cost impacts
Disease patterns will alter and the possibility of epidemics increases
Governments will need to allocate funds to all of the above
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Will the ‘developed’ world contribute to any or all of the above with funding at multi or unilateral
level
More on Climate Change and Africa
Some regions are likely to experience water shortages. Coupled with increasing demand, this is likely
to result in large increases in the number of people at risk of water scarcity. It is likely to affect
livelihoods, the report by the International Panel on Climate Change says
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‘Projected reductions in the area suitable for growing crops, and in the length of the growing season,
are likely to produce an increased risk of hunger. In some countries, yields from rain-fed agriculture
could be reduced by up to 50% by 2020.’
Rising sea levels threaten large cities. Degradation of coral reefs and mangroves is likely, with impacts
on local fisheries and tourism.
Rising temperatures, coupled with over-fishing, will decrease the supply of fish from large lakes, with
important impacts on food supplies.
The possible financial cost
Between $10bn (£5.2bn) and $40bn is needed annually to seriously reduce the problems of
global warming in the developing world but industrialised countries have given only $43m - a
tenth of the amount they have pledged - while rich country fossil fuel subsidies total $73bn a
year.
Leading agencies say that greenhouse emissions cuts of 60% - 90% will ultimately be needed way beyond the targets set in the Kyoto agreement.
"Climate change is overwhelming the situation in Africa... unless we take genuine steps now to
reduce our emissions, people in the developed world will be condemning millions to hunger, starvation and
death,“ Tony Juniper, Director Friends of The earth
Let’s look in more detail at pollution
What is Air Pollution?
Air pollution is not a new phenomenon, pollution problems have dramatically increased in intensity as well as
scale due to the increase in emissions since the Industrial Revolution – as recently as the early 1950’s several
thousand people died in London as a result of what was known as ‘smog’ – a mixture of fog and smoke. This
led to the UK Government passing a Clean Air Act that banned the use of ordinary coal in urbanised areas.
Local Pollution
All known data and reports on air pollution showed the majority of cases to be were localised and
concentrated in or around industrial centres and big cities. In developing countries the earliest form of air
pollution was caused the burning of fields, associated with the ‘slash and burn’ system of farming. It is only
quite recently that care levels in major cities have shown pollution levels rising. There is also evidence that
some resource mines and other industrial plants may also have released pollutants. It must now be a priority
of the governments in developing countries to protect their citizens against such forms of pollution.
Epidemiological research has recently shown several damaging effects of aerosols on the respiratory tract,
inducing asthma, bronchitis, and early demise. This too needs to be addressed by methods of marketing of
such products never state the dangers and the desire to be illustrate ‘sophisticated’ buying patterns may even
allow some people to ignore whatever warnings are produced.
Parabens, which appear in many toiletry products are known to be both poisonous and major cause of cancer,
especially amongst females. This is also the case with oestrogen, which is added to milk products, which is
known to be a major cause of breast cancer.
The education systems of countries such as Sierra Leone must include such warnings as an essential part of
their responsibility to prepare young people for adult life. Of course, not all young people attend school and
maybe not on a regular basis. This is an area where attention must be given to peer education – those who do
attend school or college must inform others of the risks associated with the consumption of some products
e.g. fatty foods and the use of products known to contain potentially dangerous chemicals.
Regional Pollution
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Only in the second half of the 20th century were the effects of air pollution detected on regional (>500 km),
continental, and global scales. It was not until1960 that acid deposition, commonly referred to as acid rain,
caused the first observed effects on regional to continental scales. Many people are now aware of the
problems associated with air pollutants and once again ‘ignorance’ is a major issues that developing countries
need to address.
In both Northern Europe and the United States fish populations in some lakes were acidified by acid deposition
to the point that fish eggs would not produce young fish anymore. Some years’ later this acid deposition was
found to cause damage to forests and loss of vitality of trees.
Another area of potential harm to humans has been the research conducted to establish reactions of volatile
organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). These are produced in high concentrations of ozone and
peroxides and are known to be harmful to human beings and ecosystems. Around the same period, the first
high oxidant concentrations were more and more frequently occurring in Europe during stagnant
meteorological conditions. We now know that these were amongst the major causes of climate change
Severe eutrophication (damage and changes in ecosystems due to the availability of excessive amounts of
nutrients) have been discovered in Europe and the U.S. Deposition of ammonium and nitrates have been
shown to contribute substantially to high nutrient concentrations in soil and groundwater. Nitrates and
ammonium are beneficial, even essential, for development of vegetation, but in too high concentrations they
lead to the loss of diversity, especially in oligotrophic (adapted to low nutrient availability) ecosystems .
It is for these reasons that some experts are suggesting countries such as Sierra Leone adopt low fertiliser
methods of cash and food crop production. More detail on such schemes appeared earlier in this section of
the course
Historic Ozone Trends
Ozone concentrations in Europe have slowly increased at a rate of 1 to 2% per year from 10 ppb (parts per
billion) to over 50 ppb. The majority of those working in this field agree that the effects of ozone start at levels
of about 40 parts per billion (ppb is a mixing ratio of 1 molecule ozone in a billion molecules of air).
It is not surprising that the effects of ozone were detected in the 1970s, as background continental ozone was
already 30 ppb, and additional oxidant formation would increase the ozone concentrations locally or
regionally. The increase in the continental background concentrations of ozone had already been occurring
over a long period of time. In general, the effects of pollution, and of air pollution in particular, are a function
of the degree of transgression from the limits over which effects can be expected .
Once again this poses problems for the developing world. Does it simple copy was has been practiced for over
two hundred years in ‘developed’ economies, or does it use the knowledge of the mistakes that have arisen in
Europe, the US and elsewhere as a warning and devise ways, use new systems so as not to replicated the
mistakes of others?
Natural Disasters
Natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and floods can cause considerable economic and social
difficulties for the country or region that is ‘hit’ by such a disaster
Hurricanes and cyclones are increasing in severity and destruction, the poor are normally the worst hit for
they have the least resources to cope and rebuild
In the increasingly globalised and interconnected economy, the economic fallout from a natural disaster is
rarely harmful to one specific geographic area. Natural disasters that take place thousands of miles away can
have enormous impact on countries many thousands of miles from where the exact incident took place.
Infrastructure Destruction
As well as loss of life, infrastructure destruction is one of most obvious type of damage that takes place comes
when we think about natural disasters. Television news and the Inter Net have made images of damaged
homes and businesses ubiquitous with nearly every earthquake or tornado that occurs.
But the economic consequences are rarely considered beyond what the cost will be to rebuild. That's a serious
problem for the victims of natural disasters because it's the economic fallout that leaves some of the longestlasting scars. Also, in a 24/7 news environment that problems facing those living in such areas is soon
considered to no longer be news and it slips from public awareness.
The Unforeseen Problem
Amongst the biggest problems for areas affected by natural disasters is business disruption. With road,
communication infrastructure, and building damage associated with such events, it's not uncommon for local
businesses to be shut down for some time after the aftershocks settle.
With increased unemployment comes a severe cutback in consumer spending and – consequently – tax
revenues needed to aid in the rebuilding efforts. This is now a major problem in Sierra Leone as the full extent
of the economic downturn associated with Ebola becomes apparent
The international impact can be felt throughout such sectors as energy sector as oil prices escalated due to
destroyed rigs and refineries
In places where significant portions of the country are decimated by disasters, governments are often left with
little recourse; with a fraction of their former tax revenue coming in and deteriorated sovereign
creditworthiness, foreign aid becomes an absolute necessity.
The Commodity Effect and Scarcity
The popularity of international investment diversification has expanded considerably in recent years. Investors
may not live in the vicinity of the disaster but their investments are affected by them. In turn people living
nowhere near the disaster zone are affected by changes in commodity prices, such as the price hike in 2010 of
both fuels and food prices.
Similar things happened in the copper market as earthquakes in Chile choked production and inflated copper
prices worldwide.
These kinds of price increases aren't just limited to market-traded commodities. When natural disaster strikes,
scarcity rules, and regular staples like food, merchandise and even housing can become commoditized as a
result
A last fact to consider
Natural disasters are increasingly thought to be, in part, the results of mankind’s lack of respect for the planet
on which we all live. Much now rests on how we treat this FINITE planet. Many businesses and governments
are looking at ways at ‘carbon neutral’ – we have touched on this but more will appear later in this Module.
References
Climate Change
http://www.sciencemediacentre.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/SMC-Briefing-Notes-Climate-Change.pdf
http://www.carbonneutral.com/resource-hub/climate-change-summary
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-023j-global-climate-change-economics-scienceand-policy-spring-2008/lecture-notes/
Pollution
http://www.preservearticles.com/2012021623381/short-notes-on-major-categories-of-environmentalpollution.html
http://www.eco-systems.org/air_pollution_notes_from_other_places.htm
http://discovery.bitspilani.ac.in/dlpd/courses/coursecontent/courseMaterial%5Cetzc362%5CNoice_Pollution_notes.pdf
http://www.marlin.ac.uk/PDF/MLTN_pollution.pdf
Natural Disasters
http://www.tulane.edu/~sanelson/Natural_Disasters/index.html
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/earth/collections/worst_natural_disasters
You Tube
Climate Change
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ew05sRDAcU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxLwmGPMLJk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YQIaOldDU8
Pollution
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP3pbh_-pu8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAbOVeKYgjU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdDSRRCKMiI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IG3thzNUIdY
Natural Disasters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg-6whkbZXs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HS7amieooUM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRiLLd2hX0E